Jordan Windle was prepared to help bring Texas another NCAA title.
The 2020 NCAA Championships was poised to be an epic showdown between Texas and Cal. Windle knew that diving could make the difference in a meet that tight.
But the meet was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and Windle and his Longhorn teammates had to wait an entire year for another chance at a showdown.
“The goal is to help the boys win another NCAA title,” Jordan Windle told Swimming World.
Windle won the 2019 NCAA title in platform diving. He also is a nine-time All-American diver.
His senior year was much different as the pandemic changed the course of training for Windle, but he dominated at the NCAA Zone championships, winning the zone title on the 3-meter board and platform, while finishing second on 1-meter.
“It really as a roller coaster and still is. I had to travel to Houston to train and California to train. I went to Florida and tried to find places that were open. When everything shut down, I was trying to do mat flips in my apartment. I would do those and send those to Matt Scoggin,” Windle said. “It is hard to stay motivated when you work out by yourself, but we did a lot of weight and band training. It was tough, but we made it through so far.”
Jordan Windle. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
The biggest adjustment was mentally.
“The spacial awareness from consistent training is not the same if you can’t keep training regularly,” Windle said. “Our sport is incredibly mental. Once you lose a dive, you have to relearn it. There is that fear of what can go wrong.”
Windle said his coach, Matt Scoggin, helps a lot in that regard.
“Matt is an amazing coach. The best coach I have had my entire career. He was great when it came to recruiting. He made it a real goal to try to get me here. I took that highly,” Windle said. “He has a special way of coaching, coaching everyone the way they need to be coached. I don’t take aggressive coaching well, so he has taken a more fatherly approach in regards to that.”
Scoggin is pleased with the way Windle has responded to that coaching style.
“He is just a great example of someone with big goals who is willing to do the work,” Scoggin said. “One thing I really noticed is I have seen him grow into this tremendous team supporter in leadership.”
The biggest part of that is just staying loose between dives and during training.
“Consistency you have to make sure that diving stays fun,” Jordan Windle said. “Sports are meant to be fun. We enjoy competing. If it becomes a chore, then competing becomes a chore and I won’t be competing the best that I can.”